A few years ago I couldn't get a transit as the model I wanted was in short supply. So I ended up buying a new Citroen dispatch. Big mistake. On its second service the main stealer called me to say it needed new pads and discs £480. I told them to do the work. Eleven months later I was going away so I stuck the van in a bit early for its service. Guess what.? The dealer calls me and says the technicians have discovered that i need pads and discs. Grrrrr I told him not to fit them as they were less than a year old. He seemed surprised that someone said no. We have a fantastic tyre and exhaust place near me that I've used for years. I popped in there and told them the story. They got the van up on a lift, called me over and said, absolutely nothing wrong with the discs and the pads still have a few thousand miles left on them. Main dealers are crooks.
Took my Mondeo in for a main service in Feb - advisory on tyres - did I want to replace them at £175 each. No thanks - went to local tyre place as was changing a tyre on MG - he said there was still 3.5mm on them and good for another 5k miles at least!!
Audi once quoted me 150 plus vat to change a front bulb. Around 20 quid for the bulb and the rest labour as apparently the air box needed to be removed. No it didnt. The headlight pops out to get around that issue. Its a 6 min job and the bulb is a fiver. Nice try.
Have to say had a similar experience when we took our Toyota in for service a few years back. As parts they charged us £70 for oil. When we queried this and said we bought oil for the car for £20 earlier they said it was a particular oil for that make n model. We told them THEY sold us the £20 oil, specifically for our make n model. We told them we wouldn't be using them again, thereafter using a non main dealer Toyota specialist. They even did that thing where a week or so later someone from the main dealer rings you up to ask what your experience of using them had been like. We told them and repeated that we would never use them again. Still got reminders through for MOT, for service etc. Took several phone calls to their HQ before they finally got the message n stopped bothering us.
In there defence they have to pay for the free coffee smart garage and courtesy cars some how Also the people who tend to go to a main dealership have no interest in there car apart form driving it So when they do a service they have to look at what will last until the next service tyres and breaks with a few thousand miles left are not going to last when cars can go 10000+ miles between services
VW wanted £480 to replace my tiguans front console bushes, £180 for glow plugs, £490 for cam belt, £190 for a tyre. Console bushes £23 a side, 15 minutes to do each. Glow plugs £39, I changed them at half time of the prem rugby game, cam belt not due for another 22k miles, tyre £65 for a Michelin climate one. Dealer main service record is properly like dropping the soap in the shower.
Sheffield Audi wanted £60 to diagnose a blown bulb, £180 for the new bulb and £80 to fit it...I sold the car
The powered steering failed on our Passat, it was a fault with the electric motor so needed a new rack, VW quoted me £2,300.00 plus Vat. I ended up buying a refurbished rack and getting my local garage to fit it, total cost £500 inc VAT.
Not really true. What about people who just don't have the ability, or anywhere to do it. I can just imagine doing an oil change at the side of the road.
I had the exact same issue with my wife's old Nissan Micra. Nissan dealer wanted similar to replace it and the local garage did it for £600 +vat including a full service.
I don't see how going to an independent garage rather than a main dealership equates to having more interest in a car
I serviced an oil boiler a couple of years ago. He was a new customer. Because he'd not had it done for a while there were a few additional service items like filters and a fuel hose etc. It added about thirty pounds to the service price. I was apologetic when I gave him the bill as I didn't want him to think I was loading it up as he was new to me. He said "mate don't worry about it, I've just had my Audi in the dealers to diagnose a fault and they charged me £180 per hour!!!!! So thirty quid for a few boiler bits seems quite reasonable. £180 an hour is solicitor money. That's private doctor consultancy money. How the hell do they get away with it?
It is silly money and they should be ashamed of fleecing people when they charge that sort of dough. The trouble is companies pay it and claim some of it back and they think Joe public can afford to pay those prices too!
Update. Today was the day, I took the car in for service. And wouldn't you know it, during the "free" health check, they discovered that the measurement on the brake fluid "boiling point" was in the red, and they needed my authorisation to replace it, at a cost of £40. I politely declined. Asked the guy what that actually meant, and he just pointed to the report sheet and said something about water in the fluid. He didn't really seem to know what it meant. Under the column headed ".report and recommendations" it said "2% change every 2 years". So, is there any of you guys who actually know what that means. Surely they don't want to charge me £40 to change just 2% of the fluid?
